Understanding Records, Second Edition: A Field Guide to Recording Practice

Description

The revised edition of Understanding Records explains the musical language of recording practice in a way any interested reader and student can easily understand. Drawing on readily available hit records produced since 1945, each section of this book explains a handful of core production and engineering techniques in chronological record-making sequence, elucidates how those techniques work, what they sound like, how they function musically, where listeners can hear them at work in the broader Top 40 soundscape, and where they fit within the broader record-making process at large. As the only book to introduce music production and its practical elements with no assumed prior knowledge, the revised edition includes: • Exclusive print and video interviews with emerging and established recordists, including: Alex Chuck Krotz (Drake, Three Days Grace, Mother Mother); Kevin O’ Leary (Shawn Mendes, The Glorious Sons, Monster Truck); Alastair Sims (Rush, The Tragically Hip, Barenaked Ladies); Matt Shelvock (kingmobb, san holo, bitbird, DROLOE); and Russ Hepworth-Sawyer (Billy Ray Cyrus, Steve Earle, Amadou & Miriam) • Numerous “real word” audio examples, organized into easily accessible streaming playlists, culled from Juno-nominated sessions the author himself worked on, and numerous other professional sources. • Easy to understand explanations of each facet of the record production process, which avoid technical jargon and clarify terminology. • Information on new developments in recording practice and updated musical references. Completely reworked and expanded sections on mixing and audio mastering Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Academic context A quick note on organization A final note on how to use this field guide Chapter 1: Tracking (Making Audio Signals) Transduction Direct-injection Sequencing Chapter 2: Mixing (The Space of Communications) Mixing and the multitrack paradigm Signal processing Chapter 3: Mastering (The Final Say) Mastering: A brief history Finalization: Mixing/mastering Mastering as arm’s-length peer review The art of mastering: Making a start The art of mastering: EQ The art of mastering: Dynamics The art of mastering: Other tools, other approaches Mid-side processing: Determining width and depth Mid-side processing: Corrective and creative De-noising: Single-ended and otherwise A quick note on the peculiar art of remastering The transfer process: Balancing for output(s) Conclusion: Mastering as a value added for other services Coda (Fade-Out) Notes Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Coda Index